Both Colby men’s ice hockey and Bowdoin women’s basketball played in national tournament games on Saturday night.
At Geneseo, New York, the Colby White Mules ice hockey team continued their run in the NCAA Division III tournament by getting a late goal by Justin Grillo to upset SUNY Geneseo 2-1, to advance to next weekends Frozen Four in Lake Placid.
Thomas Stahlhuth had staked Colby to a 1-0 lead 40 seconds into the second period. Arthur Gordon tied it for Geneseo with a powerplay marker at 8:18 of the third period. Grillos game winning goal came with just 1.6 seconds left on the clock, stunning the hosts. Colby is now 17-10-2, while Geneseo ends their season at 20-6-3, and suffered their first home loss of season (12-1). Colby will play Saint Norbert College (25-4-1) in a second national semifinal next Friday at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid at 6:30 p.m. The opening semifinal features Wisconsin Stevens Point (21-5-3) and Salve Regina (21-5-2). The two winners will meet in the national title game Saturday at 7 p.m.
At Rochester, Minnesota, the Amherst Mammoths capped off a perfect 33-0 season by pulling away from Bowdoin to win the Div III women’s basketball national championship 65-45. Amherst has now won 66 games in a row and two straight national titles with two straight undefeated seasons.
Bowdoin kept the game tied after the opening quarter before Amherst took a three point halftime lead at 26-23. The Polar Bears took a two point lead in the third quarter, before Amherst regained control and took a 42-36 lead into the final quarter.
The Mammoths outscored Bowdoin 23-9 in the final quarter to break open a close game. Emma McCarthy led the way for Amherst with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Emma Fox added 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Bowdoin, who finished their season at 29-3 (two losses to Amherst), was led by Lauren Petit who had 12 points. Taylor Choate added nine points and five assists. Lydia Caputi added seven points. Former Bangor standout Cordelia Stewart had four points and eight rebounds, while a former Presque Isle Wildcat Hannah Graham played 11 minutes but did not score.
